Lessons From Soccer: By Allan Lucky

When defenders & goalkeepers work so hard to ensure clean sheets, when midfielders put in lots of effort to ensure balls are ready for delivery, when wingers provide enough crosses and strikers/forwards make sure balls get at the back of the net – the team wins.

It applies in real life. Most people fail because there’s no ‘team-work’. There’s no one-man show, never happened in the history of man-kind. Anyway, what surprises me most is that some of us are soccer fans but don’t learn. We have goalkeepers and defenders in real life. These are the people whom we all turn to whenever things go south. We depend on them to defend us or ensure we do not fall or fail. They may be in your family, circle of friends or relatives.

Some could also be in your office or area of expertise. Trust them, they will definitely defend and ensure you get a clean sheet in whatever project/activity you get involved in.

We have midfielders and wingers in real life. Like the defenders, they are available at home, school, work or in the community. They readily avail resources for you to grab/embrace and use to your own advantage and progress. These are support systems that are around. We have people helping us with finances, skills, connections, etc.

Systems are in place to ensure we excel in life at all angles – schools/learning institutions, business centers, churches/mosques, etc. These midfielders and wingers in life ensure everything is ready for you to score, get the three points and move up the table.

Cristiano Ronaldo (R) of Portugal celebrates scoring his team’s second goal with his team mate Nani (L) during the UEFA EURO 2016 Group F match between Hungary and Portugal at Stade des Lumieres on June 22, 2016 in Lyon, France

You are the striker, you are the forward. The team will not win even if defenders/goalkeepers record another clean sheet. Midfielders and wingers prepare everything for you – yet you do not score. You are a striker/forward of your life. You are a striker/forward of your own career. You are required to kick that final ball in a fashionable way to ensure the victory. If it’s a header, even better!

Remember, if you win, it’s not only your victory, but your team’s victory. From now on, start thinking of your team members. Ask yourself: Who is my defender? Who’s my winger? Most importantly, appreciate everyone who kicked the ball before you got that ‘little beauty’ on target.

And most importantly, do not ever lose the ball in your opponent’s 18-yard box. All the efforts and work put in by others will be in vain. You will lose the game, lose your career and definitely lose your life.

Note that you can also play different positions when things get tough, just like at times you see Wayne Rooney defending. Another determinant is the formation of the game, in this case the formation of your life and career. You can play different positions for someone else’s team/game.

Remember, as others ensure that you become a striker of your team, you too have a role of making them strikers of their respective teams by being their defender, winger and midfielder. Now, STRIKE WHILE THE IRON IS HOT!